Special Investigating Units and Special Tribunals Act, 1996
R 385
Water Services Act, 1997 (Act No. 108 of 1997)NoticesNorms and Standards for Tariff Setting, 2024 - effective 1 April 20261. Definitions |
In this Norms and Standards for water services tariffs, any word or expression to which a meaning has been assigned in the Water Services Act shall bear that meaning and, unless the context otherwise indicates—
| (1) | Basic sanitation facility means the infrastructure which considers natural (water; land; topography) resource protection, is safe (including for children), reliable, private, socially acceptable, skilled and capacity available locally for operation and maintenance, protected from the weather and ventilated, keeps smells to the minimum, is easy to keep clean, minimises the risk of the spread of sanitation-related diseases by facilitating the appropriate control of disease carrying flies and pests, facilitates hand washing and enables safe and appropriate treatment and/or removal of human waste and wastewater in an environmentally sound manner |
| (2) | Basic sanitation service means the provision of a basic sanitation facility which is environmentally sustainable, easily accessible to a household and a consumer, the sustainable operation and maintenance of the facility, including the safe removal of human waste, grey-water and wastewater from the premises where this is appropriate and necessary, and the communication and local monitoring of good sanitation, hygiene and related practices. |
| (3) | Basic water supply facility is the infrastructure necessary to supply 25 litres of potable water per person per day supplied within 200 metres of a household and with a minimum flow of 10 litres per minute (in the case of communal water points) or 6 000 litres of potable water supplied per formal connection per month (in the case of yard or house connections). |
| (4) | Basic water supply service means the provision of appropriate education in respect of effective water use as well as a minimum quantity of 25 litres of potable water per person per day (or 6 000 litres per household per month) within 200 metres of a household, which is not interrupted for more than seven days in any year; and with a minimum flow of 10 litres per minute in the case of communal water points. |
| (5) | Bulk Water Services Provider is any person who has a contract with a water services authority or another water services provider to sell water to, and/or accept wastewater for the purposes of treatment from, that authority or provider. |
| (6) | Communal water services work means a household connection through which water services are supplied to more than one household, or an alternative means to supply water services including but not limited to tankering. |
| (7) | Consumer means any end user who receives water services from a water services institution, including an end user in an informal settlement. |
| (8) | Household means a resident not limited to a natural person within a WSA area of jurisdiction who receives water or sanitation services or both from the WSA or WSP. |
| (9) | Drought tariffs means a special tariff that a WSI may impose to households to achieve water conservation goals and enable the recovery of minimum fixed costs for providing the services in drought conditions only. |
| (10) | Effluent includes domestic effluent, domestic sludge or industrial effluent where:— |
| • | Domestic effluent is wastewater arising from domestic and commercial activities and premises, which may contain sewage; and |
| • | Industrial effluent is wastewater arising from industrial activities and premises, including contaminated storm water drainage from industrial premises. |
| (11) | Fixed charge means any tariff set by WSI for the supply of water or sanitation services to consumers independent of the volume of water supplied or effluent discharged. |
| (12) | Free basic sanitation means the provision of affordable ongoing services to at least the basic level of sanitation for indigent households. |
| (13) | Free basic water supply is the provision of appropriate education in respect of effective water use as well as a minimum quantity of 25 litres of potable water per person per day (or 6 000 litres per household per month) within 200 metres of a household, which is not interrupted for more than seven days in any year; and with a minimum flow of 10 litres per minute in the case of communal water points at no charge for poor households. |
| (14) | Indigent means a household or any person that is in a state of being unable to afford basic water and sanitation services and who qualifies for rebate, remission, support or a services subsidy by Government in terms of the indigent policy of the WSA . |
| (15) | Industrial use means water being used for mining, manufacturing, electricity generation, land-based transport, construction or any related activities. |
| (16) | Industrial wastewater means wastewater arising from mining, manufacturing, electricity generation, land-based transport, construction or any related activities. |
| (17) | Water Services Institution means a water services authority, a water services provider, a water board and a water services committee. |
| (18) | Water services intermediary means any person who is obliged to provide water services to another in terms of a contract where the obligation to provide water services is incidental to the main object of that contract. |
| (19) | Penalty tariff means a special tariff that a WSI may impose to households for abstracting or consuming more than contracted volumes to achieve effective water demand management and the tariff applies only on the extra abstracted or consumed volumes. |
| (20) | Potable water means water used for drinking or domestic purposes and may include borehole water/ ground water of a quality consistent with the Specifications for Drinking Water as set out in the South African National Standards 241, as amended from time to time. |
| (21) | Regional water utility is a water institution which may include a water board which is responsible for the financing, development, management, operation and maintenance of regional bulk water infrastructure , including the development and management of regional water resources, regional bulk water services and regional wastewater infrastructure. |
| (22) | Retail WSP means a WSA, a WSP, or any other institution, whether private or public, that provides retail water services to end user households. |
| (23) | Reticulation system refers to all pipe systems, pumping systems, and components that contribute to the distribution of water, and collection and disposal of wastewater in waterborne sanitation. |
| (24) | Ring-fencing means that water or sanitation services, or both, are accounted for separately from the other operations of any Water Services Institution. |
| (25) | Sanitation services means the collection, removal, disposal, treatment of human excreta and domestic wastewater, and the collection, treatment and disposal of industrial wastewater, sewage and effluent resulting from the use of water for commercial purposes. |
| (a) | Off-site or reticulated sanitation refers to a system of sanitation where human waste is removed from the household or plot by a reticulation system, and transported to a sewage treatment works; and |
| (b) | On-site sanitation refers to the treatment and disposal of human waste on the property that was generated and through a process that is not connected to a reticulated system, and includes pit latrines, ventilated improved pit latrine (VIPL) and urine diversion (UD) toilets. |
| (26) | Seasonal water tariffs mean a special tariff that a Water Services Institution may impose during months in which a higher-than-average peak consumption is normally experienced in order to limit the peak consumption from its water services works. |
| (27) | Seasonal wastewater tariffs mean a special tariff that a WSI may impose during months in which a higher-than-average peak effluent discharges into wastewater services works which is normally experienced in order to manage the capacity of its wastewater services works. |
| (28) | Surplus means an excess of revenue over costs on a WSl's operating budget. |
| (29) | Volume charge means a charge levied proportionally to the amount of water supplied. |
| (30) | Wastewater means water that runs off after the use of water for domestic, commercial, industrial or other purposes. |
